Saskatchewan Doctor Shortages: Humanism vs. Structuralism

Saskatchewan’s governmental agencies approach to the shortage of doctors in the province favors too much the structuralist approach and would be more effective in the long term if switched to a humanistic approach. Throwing money at a problem may work for a little bit but what happens when the money runs out? So are current programs a true fix or a short-term solution doomed to fail. We look at the possible causes for the shortage of doctors and then examine the governmental responses put in place to deal with the problem, both past and present. We look at which perspectives are more successful between the structuralist approach and the humanist approach when it comes to the Canadian health care system.

The Saskatchewan heath care system is made up of several provincial, regional and local organizations, which provide the people their basic right to reasonable health care (“Health Systems,” 2014). Not having enough health care providers seem to be a problem, which Canada as a whole has struggled with (“College of Family,” 2014). The shortages of medical providers have lead to major discrepancies in the level of patient care between major urban centers and rural areas (Howlett, 2013). In the case of Saskatchewan many communities are facing this challenge, not only rural areas but also the capital city of the province (“Saskatchewan ER,” 2013). Stats Canada has showed that the number of physicians is at a historic high, yet Saskatchewan still face shortages (Howlett, 2013).

There are many possibilities to consider when looking for a cause of this problem. Typically work force problems are looked at as an issue of supply and demand (Dauphinee, 2005). Workforce numbers in Canada as a whole are monitored from several databases (Dauphinee, 2005). But when predicting future trends its hard to account for everything (Dauphinee, 2005). The population continues to increase (“New Incentive,” 2013). As of January 1, 2014 there are 1, 117, 503 people in Saskatchewan, which is an increase of 20,056 from the previous year (“New Incentive,” 2013). More people means more medical care. This can cause a strain on the current medical professionals (“New Incentive,” 2013).

In the 1990s the government made the decision to cut back on physician production because it though that it had enough physicians (Dauphinee, 2005). This lead to the greatest net loss of Canadian physicians to other countries, primarily the united states (Dauphinee, 2005). It was approximated that 508 physicians left in 1996 (Dauphinee, 2005).